Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $157,000 Stock Holdings in Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,419 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 11,178 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Novavax were worth $157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Novavax by 300.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 97,162 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,226,000 after buying an additional 72,894 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Novavax in the 3rd quarter valued at $714,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Novavax by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,502,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $44,245,000 after purchasing an additional 304,159 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Novavax by 73.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 709,579 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,961,000 after buying an additional 301,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Novavax by 147.6% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 63,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $797,000 after acquiring an additional 37,631 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

Novavax Stock Up 10.9 %

Shares of Novavax stock opened at $10.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.79 and a beta of 2.07. Novavax, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.53 and a twelve month high of $23.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $8.68 and its 200 day moving average is $11.28.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.76) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $84.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.26) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 54.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Novavax

In other Novavax news, Director James F. Young sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.48, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 57,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,716.80. This trade represents a 7.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel K. King sold 4,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total value of $37,433.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,225.40. This represents a 21.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,150 shares of company stock valued at $119,641. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Novavax from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Novavax in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.83.

About Novavax

Novavax, Inc, a biotechnology company, that promotes improved health by discovering, developing, and commercializing vaccines to protect against serious infectious diseases. It offers vaccine platform that combines a recombinant protein approach, nanoparticle technology, and its patented Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance the immune response.